Trader Joe's opens in Naples; Palm Beach petitioning to get a store

Naples residents waited in a line just to get a first glimpse of the new Trader Joe’s grocery store which opened it’s first Florida location in Collier County today.

The popular grocery brand is known for it’s smaller, boutique-styled stores and upscale products that rival other organic or smaller brand grocers like The Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

Grocery stores are expanding in South Florida. Whole Foods plans to open a new Pembroke Pines store in the coming months, and The Fresh Market opened it's first east Broward store in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 1.

Trader Joe’s has no plans of expanding into Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach counties as of yet. But local Palm Beach officials are petitioning to bring the popular grocer to the East Coast side of South Florida.

West Palm Beach'sDowntownDevelopment Authority has begun production on a marketing film called “What would I trade for Trader Joe’s,” where city officials will give up precious items in return for a grocery store opening in downtown Palm Beach.

The Monrovia, Calif., chain has 365 stores in 31 states, the Naples store being the first in Florida.

Want to request a South Florida Trader Joe’s location? Click here to send a store request.